Dark Side
by CimFan
Summary: One-shot. Luke's thoughts about Annabeth when he bathes in the River Styx. Never written a Luke\Annabeth (this is not a Lukabeth one-shot!) before, so you must forgive me for any OOC. Inspired by Kelly Clarkson's "Dark Side".


**DARK SIDE**

_**Luke, Annabeth**_

**Disclaimer: Kelly Clarkson owns the song and Rick Riordan owns the characters. I only own the plot.**

* * *

Luke was standing by the edge of the River Styx. The water was streaming through their path smoothly, unlike they should, he thought. A river this scary should be rough. A few items mortals once had were floating in the black water; a broken clock, a sock, a torn wedding picture.

The blond guy didn't wear anything except for a black boxer and a white sleeveless shirt. He kept it simple, just as the Lord of Time told him. He had to make it quick and return to his lord as fast as possible.

He already heard Achilles' lecture about bathing in the deadly river. "You should not do it," the dead warrior warned him.

But Luke knew better. He knew he wouldn't die. Kronos protected him. He would survive and return to Kronos, where he would do the impossible; accept Kronos' spirit into himself, having them share a body.

Luke looked at the water and then at his left wrist. Kronos picked the spot for him, saying this is an unlikely place to get hurt at while in battle. Luke couldn't agree more. Unlike the rest of his body, he never got hurt them even once. He concentrated on staying alive and serving his lord, and stepped into the water.

It felt like acid. He fell face-first into the water. He took a deep breath before everything went black.

* * *

He was sitting in a dark cave. For a second he didn't recognize it, but then it hit him. It was one of those shelters he and Thalia and Annabeth built when they were running away together. _What am I doing here? _He thought.

And then he saw them, lying in sleeping bags right next to him; Thalia and Annabeth. Thalia was curled into a ball and Annabeth's hair was spread all over her face. What was going on here?

He looked at his body, only to realize it was much smaller than it is. He was also not wearing what he wore a few seconds ago. Now he was wearing a dirty red T-shirt and a pair of tattered jeans. His previous sword, the one he used to used and which he left at Camp Half Blood when he left to join Kronos, was lying next to him on the ground. He was probably on watch duty.

Suddenly, he heard a move behind him. A thick quick voice said, "Luke?"

He turned around. Annabeth was awake. Her noise was red and her eyes puffy.

"Yes, Annabeth?" he said in a sweet voice. He didn't know why he was even answering her, but it was like something forced him into doing it. And besides, he couldn't ignore the cute, sweet little girl Annabeth was.

"Can I come and sit next to you?" she asked.

"Yeah, sure. But don't wake Thalia. She needs a lot of sleep if she wants to heal her ankle."

Annabeth got out of her sleeping bag and came next to him. She, too, was wearing dirty a tattered clothes; a green tank top with Winnie the Pooh print and jeans.

"What's wrong?" Luke asked her.

"I had a nightmare," little Annabeth said. "I don't want to sleep anymore."

"You want to tell me what it was about? Maybe it'll help," Luke suggested. Annabeth was like a little sister to him. He couldn't watch her getting hurt.

Annabeth didn't answer. She bit her lower lip and after a second she asked, "Luke, are you mad at the gods?"

Luke looked at her face for a second. She was really skinny, but not in a way a seven year old girl should be. She was tired and dirty and injured. Just looking at her made him mad. And he and Thalia weren't any better.

"Yeah, you can say that," he finally said. "They left us here to be chased by monsters, didn't they? If they really cared about us they wouldn't do that, would they?"

Annabeth sighed. "I really want to meet my mom. There's a reason why we were born, right?"

"Maybe there is, but I'm sure that if they really cared about us, we wouldn't be here, fighting for our lives every single day," Luke explained.

Silence.

"Do you hate the gods?" Annabeth asked.

"Yes," Luke said without hesitating.

"Do you hate me and Thalia as well? We're demigods." Annabeth sounded sad. She looked at him and he could see tears in her grey eyes. This was what she was most afraid of (after spiders); getting left behind, being hated by people. A seven year old girl shouldn't run away from her home because her family hated her. It was wrong and crazy.

"Hey, don't cry," Luke said. He reached out and grabbed her, pulling her into a hug. "I can never hate you. Or Thalia. We're a family and families should stick together. You will always have a piece of my heart, no matter what happens to us."

And then he was jacked away, back in the acid-like water. He remembered his weak spot on his left wrist.

He threw himself out of the water, remembering his vision. His promise. No matter what's going to happen in the war, he is going to make sure Annabeth stays alive. He'll make her join him. He must succeed.

* * *

**So while I was on my family vacation last week, I was listening to Dark Side by Kelly Clarkson and this popped into my head. It was better in my head..**

**Hope you guys like it! Don't forget to review+follow and favorite! (:**

**School starts again next Tuesday (ohhh, :( ) and since I'm going to be a sophmore, I will barely have time for writing (school starts and then about a week later the holidays start). Same goes for junior year. So I will try to update as much as I can, but I can't promise anything,**

**LOTS OF LOVE!**

**~ CimFan (Rachel).**


End file.
